


Hard to Breathe

by ZsGurl



Series: White Flag [14]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Blood and Injury, Erwin is a hero, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:15:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29671296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZsGurl/pseuds/ZsGurl
Summary: While returning from a mission outside the walls, titans attack the formation and Angel is critically wounded.
Relationships: Levi Ackerman & Original Female Character(s)
Series: White Flag [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1867147
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7





	Hard to Breathe

**Author's Note:**

> I had to take some medical liberties with blood typing. But I didn't stray too far from reality. Blood transfusions have been around since the 1600s (not always successfully, of course) and blood typing was discovered around 1907.

The pounding hooves of multiple horses beat a steady rhythm that would have been comforting under other circumstances. The sun was setting and the brilliant colors of the sky was lost on the group of men and women traveling in a loose formation with a singular goal in mind. They were all racing at high speed for the gates, trying to get the wounded and wagons through without any more losses. Levi was bringing up the rear in the hopes of intercepting any titans that might appear and he was on high alert. This close to the walls was usually the most treacherous as the titans were inevitably drawn to the walls, as if they could sense the populated areas on the other side. They had already sustained heavy losses but Erwin seemed satisfied with what they were able to find out on this particular scouting mission. Levi saw his blonde head riding up ahead on the right and wondered at how he was able to reconcile the constant loss of life against the small slivers of information they managed to gain. He knew Erwin was privy to pieces of the puzzle that Levi couldn’t see, but he often wondered what altered system of checks-and-balances Erwin was working from and when was it all enough.

Levi then glanced over to where he knew Angel was riding, and found her auburn head just to the right of Erwin, on the right flank. He inwardly sighed in relief at seeing her safe. He struggled with his concern for her safety, but he knew from hard experience that she didn’t like him acting on those concerns. He had agreed not to let their relationship tinge his decisions regarding what missions she went on. It was probably one of the hardest promises he has ever made, and was even harder to keep. Levi wanted to keep her safe, but he knew she was an excellent soldier with skills that he had trained himself. He had to trust in those skills and his ability to watch over her, whenever possible. 

A thick wave of foreboding tingled the back of his neck and instant before a motion farther to his right caught his eye. A titan on all fours shot out from behind a nearby building and headed straight for the right side of the formation, straight for Angel. It was too close for any warnings or signals.

Levi saw her steer her horse sharply to the left, then pull up hard in order to avoid the titan’s large hand as it made a clumsy swipe for her. Her evasive maneuver kept the titan from grabbing her, but its fingers hit the legs of her horse, sending it crashing to the ground. He watched in horror as Angel went flying off her horse, tumbling violently as she hit the ground, her ODM gear coming apart as she rolled, until she came to a stop, crashing into the base of a large tree.

“Angel!” Levi screamed, turning his horse sharply in her direction, breaking formation. She wasn’t moving and the titan was closing in on her. Goddammit! He was too far away and felt helpless as he leaned closer to the neck of his horse, urging it on to greater speeds. He watched as she slowly pulled herself together and rose unsteadily to her feet, trying to assess the situation. She was gripping her arm and Levi could see blood, a lot of it, even from a distance. She looked at the approaching titan, and then glanced around for her horse. He heard her whistle, and then his breath caught in his throat as she fell weakly to one knee. Shit! She couldn’t even stay on her feet. The titan was almost upon her when hoof beats sounded to her left and her well trained horse shot between the titan’s legs, heading toward Angel at a full run. In a sudden burst of adrenaline, she shakily rose to her feet and managed to grab the saddle with her good arm as her horse sped past. Thank Maria, she was in the saddle and on the move, with the titan right on her heels. Levi could see that she was struggling to stay upright on her horse, but at least she had a chance on horseback, assuming her injuries weren’t life-threatening. Mentally evaluating the distance between her and the titan, he knew he was still too far away as she started to fall onto the neck of her horse. Levi hoped she would not lose consciousness and fall off completely. He glanced around and saw Erwin fast approaching her on an intercept course, much closer than he was.

“Erwin!” Levi yelled.

“I’ve got her!” he replied back. “You get the titan.”

Confident that Erwin would reach Angel in time, Levi changed course slightly to intercept the bastard titan. That’s when three more titans appeared from the nearby woods, drawn by the commotion. Shit.

Erwin came alongside Angel’s running horse to find her slumped over its neck with her hands tightly fisted in the black mane, desperately hanging on.

“Angel!” he shouted over the noise of the wind rushing past their speeding horses as he reached to pull her onto his saddle. “I’ve got you. Let go.”

He wasn’t sure she was still conscious as he pulled her across his lap and tried to assess her injuries. Blood was everywhere and her shirt was ripped in several places. From what he could tell, there was an injury to her lower abdomen, and one to her upper arm. By the sharp edges of the wounds, he guessed they must have been caused by her ODM gear as it shattered in her fall. The upper arm was bleeding badly and Erwin feared that an artery had been hit. While still guiding his horse at full speed, he worked to unbuckle one of the leather leg straps of her gear still attached to Angel’s thigh. She hadn’t moved since he pulled her across his horse and his concern escalated.

“Angel, baby, stay with me. I’ve got you, sweetheart. Can you talk to me?” Erwin needed to know if she was still conscious. His heart caught in his throat as her head lolled to the side. There was so much blood. His fingers were slick with it as he quickly formed the strap into a tourniquet on her upper arm and tried to tighten the buckle. Wasting precious seconds, he fumbled trying to get a grip on the slippery leather, made even more difficult by the rocking motion of the galloping horse. He exhaled with relief at the small groan she gave when the buckle finally caught and he tightened the strap as snug as he could get it.

“I’m sorry, baby. Please stay with me. I’m getting you help.” His whispered plea fell on deaf ears as she lapsed back into unconsciousness, going limp in his arms. Erwin felt an uncharacteristic flare of panic as he dug his heels into the sides of his already lathered horse, urging him faster as they approached the deep shadows of the imposing wall.

He pressed his hand to the wound on her stomach to try to staunch the flow of blood and focused his efforts on getting to the approaching gate, confident that Levi was taking care of any problems behind him.

As the gate went up, Erwin sped through at full speed, and kept going.

“Make way!” he shouted as he thundered through the streets, heading toward military headquarters. People cleared out of his way, recognizing the Commander and seeing the bloody bundle he held in his arms.

He came to a halt in front of the infirmary, bellowing, “Medic!! Medic!”

Two men came running out with a stretcher and Erwin gently lowered Angel’s listless body to them. Oh gods, please let it be in time, he thought, as the medics rushed inside with Angel’s unconscious form. Erwin drew great gulps of air into his lungs and looked down at the blood on his hands, in his lap, down the shoulder of his heaving horse. So much blood, everywhere. What if Angel died? He was afraid of what it would do to Levi. He knew that Levi buried his emotions deep. But that didn’t mean he didn’t feel. Erwin suspected that he felt more than most, but kept it buried under layers of indifference and biting sarcasm. And didn’t they all have their coping mechanisms for living in this hellish world? Then he thought about what losing Angel would mean to him personally. Was she just another body to add to his growing body count? Another face to haunt his nightmares? No, he knew she wasn’t. He wasn’t going to delude himself. Even though she belonged to another man, he knew his own world was infinitely better for the little piece of it he got to share with her. It was likely she was the closest thing to being in love he would ever come. Wearily, he slid off his horse and walked inside.

Levi was a man enraged. As his horse closed the distance on the titan that had injured Angel, Levi spared a brief glance to Erwin’s rapidly retreating form. He trusted the man to get Angel to safety. But what if it wasn’t in time. He had seen all the blood. He had seen the way Angel was slumped over her racing horse, barely conscious. But he couldn’t think about that at the moment. He had titans to slaughter. The titan ahead of him was slowing down, having given up on Erwin and Angel. All four titans turned their attention toward the remaining flank of riders. Levi saw that Rico and her squad had broken off to help him. He clenched his jaw as he focused on the titan in front of him. As long as they knew the big mother fucker was his. He wanted to tear it to pieces. He had a brief flashback to the titan that had killed Farlan and Isabel. Back then, he had lost control and shredded it in his grief and guilt. However, this was different. It was a cold rage that was more controlled and much more deadly. He could no longer indulge in blind rages. There were other titans and other lives involved. He felt the familiar tingle along his spine as his nerve endings lit up and his muscles flexed in anticipation, ready to release his special brand of fatal savagery. He narrowed his lethal gaze on his target, jumped to his feet in the saddle as he extracted two blades from his gear, and launched his grappling hooks. Since this one was moving on all fours, speeding along like a deranged spider, Levi took out the tendons in its legs first, then its wrists, moving in a blur as the titan went down, its momentum causing it to crash into an abandoned hut before it came to a shuddering stop. As he moved in for the kill strike, he allowed some of his rage to escape its carefully constructed cage.

Jumping down from the steaming carcass and whistling for his horse, he noted with satisfaction that he had nearly decapitated the bastard.

Looking around, he saw that Rico’s squad had taken out one of the other marauding titans and was working on a second one. The rest of the formation had managed to get far enough away that they were swallowed up by the shadows of the wall. They must be near the gates as he could faintly hear the tolling of the bell that heralded the return of the Corps to the town. Levi vaulted back onto his horse and headed to intercept the last titan. After switching to fresh blades, he shot off his horse again and quickly dispatched it.

The gates were just ahead and Levi shot through them and headed towards the infirmary at full speed, not caring if pedestrians were in his way. Bringing his horse to an abrupt halt, he was out of the saddle before it had stopped completely. He was brought up short, however, and stumbled to a stop upon seeing Erwin’s grey horse tied to the post. Dear Maria, the blood covering the horse’s left side. He dashed inside the building and came face to face with Erwin as Erwin’s hands hit him in the chest to stop his momentum. Levi’s eyes frantically sought out Erwin’s, afraid of what he would see, silently asking the question he couldn’t form the words to say out loud.

“She was still alive when we got here,” Erwin said softly. But the look in his eyes belied his fear. Levi looked down and noted the blood covering Erwin’s clothing, and closed his eyes, trying to calm the fear that was coursing through him as his breath seemed to get stuck in his throat. He gripped the front of Erwin’s bloody shirt in his fists for a moment, to keep himself upright. Then he took a deep breath and slowly released he hold on Erwin’s shirt before backing away and retreating across the room.

Now they waited.

The waiting room tried for a homey effect with chairs grouped together for conversation and a fireplace on the near wall to ward off the chill. Unfortunately, the chairs were covered with a scratchy material that was worn through in places, and no one had bothered to light a fire in the chilly air. Someone had placed a large potted plant in one corner, but the cold air and a lack of care had caused the majority of its leaves to brown and curl in on themselves. The general aura of neglect that permeated the dismal room was enhanced by the smell of sickness and blood that seeped out from under the hallway door where the medics had disappeared with Angel hours ago.

After what seemed like an eternity later, the door opened with a loud groan from the rusted hinges and a short man came in to the room. The head military doctor was a heavy man with a bald head and spectacles that were precariously balanced on the tip of his nose. His overall air of exhaustion bespoke his longtime battle against the ills and injuries the brave men and women of the Corps were subjected to on a regular basis. He paused at the doorway, taking in the bloodied soldiers tiredly waiting in the shabby room. Erwin was sitting in one of the rickety chairs with his head leaned back against the wall. Levi was standing against the far wall, his head hanging down and his hands fisted in his pockets. Both men came to attention immediately. Hanje and several other soldiers were scattered around the perimeter of the room. Even though the wagons had recently brought in the injured from the latest mission and his team were diligently working on bandaging and stitching, the doctor knew that the woman who was carried in in the arms of the Commander was the most seriously injured among them as he stood before the intense faces of Captain Levi and Commander Erwin. He took a step back before delivering his grim news.

“She’s alive, but I don’t know for how long. She has lost a tremendous amount of blood. That is our main concern. An artery was hit in her arm. We’ve given her blood, but she needs more.” Blood loss from wounds was a common cause of death for the Survey Corps. Doctors had been able to do transfusions, but had yet to understand why some blood seemed to help patients and some seemed to kill them. Because of that, all members of the Corps had to store a couple pints of their own blood at the infirmary for just such emergencies. There was never a problem receiving a transfusion of your own blood. What was risky was getting blood from other people.

“Our secondary concern is infection from the wound in her abdomen. There was a good deal of internal damage. We’ve stitched everything up, but I don’t know if she’ll survive the blood loss. Without any more blood to give her, there’s nothing more we can do but wait.”

During this conversation, Hanje had grown thoughtful for a moment, then took off running down one of the corridors. Used to her bizarre behavior at odd moments, no one really took notice. When she returned a few minutes later, out of breath, she demanded that everyone present give her a drop of blood on the microscope slides she had attained. Used to her insane scientific notions, no one questioned her and everyone complied as she pulled out her knife from her pocket. Lastly, as she approached Levi for his blood, she expected him to scoff at her for her crazy ideas. Instead, he held out his hand to her, aware of the slight tremor in his fingers. As he met her gaze, she saw the pleading in his eyes. She gave him a single nod, grabbed his hand in her warm grip, and sliced his finger.

“Take me do her,” Levi demanded, turning his attention back to the portly doctor. The doctor hesitated for a moment, then nodded gravely, thinking the Captain deserved to have some final moments with his soldier. Levi started to follow after the doctor as he led the way through the door, then paused and looked at Erwin still standing by his chair, and nodded. Erwin met his gaze in acknowledgement, then slowly followed Levi and the doctor down the dimly lit hall. 

The men entered the room to see Angel lying among the sterile white sheets, an IV beside her with a clear liquid running through tubes into her arm. She looked so small and frail under the covers. There was no color in her face or lips, and her breathing was rapid and shallow. Erwin respectfully retreated to the far wall, while Levi immediately went to her side and lifted her hand. Her strong capable hand was cold and lifeless in his as he turned it over, rubbing his thumb over the calluses that graced her palm and fingers. Levi collapsed in the nearby chair, giving the appearance of being gut-punched, as the wind was knocked out of him. Sitting there holding her hand, he was assaulted by a thousand memories of Angel over the years. Her smile, her fierceness and focus in battle, her gentleness, the way she looks when she first wakes in the morning, the saucy way she smiles at him when she’s determined he has worked long enough at his desk for the evening, the care that she has always taken with the fragile heart she holds in her callused hand. _His heart_. He bowed his head at the weight of the emotions coursing through him. He wanted one more chance to say the things he had never been able to say, but she always seemed to know anyway. As a tear slipped unbidden down his cheek, he gripped her hand tightly in both of his, willing his strength and vitality into her as he brought it to his lips.

Erwin stood quietly on the far side of the room, watching his friend fall apart. He was thankful to Levi for allowing him to come see Angel for possibly the last time. Although they had never spoken anything out loud, he knew that Levi was aware of his feelings. He wasn’t sure if he would have been as generous if their roles had been reversed.

As the shadows lengthened across the floor of the small room, both men seemed frozen where they were indefinitely, listening to the labored sound of Angel’s breathing, counting the strangled gasps, until Hanje suddenly burst into the room, dragging a confused Jean, with the doctor trailing behind.

“I think I’ve figured out who can give her a transfusion of blood!” Her voice was extraordinarily loud in the quiet room. With that, she shoved Jean forward. He looked terrified as both his superior officers and the doctor stared at him, confusion and wariness in their collective gazes.

“Hanje-,” Erwin started warningly, not wanting false hope to start swirling around the room, infecting the desperate.

“Goddamn it, listen to me!” she interrupted. “I’m not completely sure, so there is a risk, but I’ve analyzed the blood samples of everyone present against Angel’s blood. And I don’t understand yet how it works, but it appears that Jean’s blood is the only one that her blood doesn’t have an adverse reaction to, under the microscope. There’s no time to go into the details now, but I think it means Jean can give her blood.” Hanje’s intensity seemed to fill the room as silence fell.

Everyone looked at Levi, implying the decision was his. All of them had seen soldiers die during transfusions, or soon thereafter. As if on cue, Angel started to deteriorate further as her breathing slowed and she started gasping for air. Levi locked gazes with Hanje. He knew that for all her crazy scientific obsessions, she wouldn’t suggest such a risky procedure for someone she cared about without already weighing the risks against the possibility of success. Hanje’s soft brown eyes filled with tears as she nodded to Levi. He inhaled a shaky breath. No regrets.

“Do it,” Levi commanded, knowing Angel was going to die anyway if they didn’t.

Immediately, Jean sat down and rolled up his sleeve as the doctor prepped his arm to hook him up directly to Angel’s IV. Levi continued to hold her other hand, sandwiching it desperately between his own, and Erwin moved forward to lay a comforting hand on Levi’s tense shoulder. Hanje moved to slip her hand inside Erwin’s other hand. Everyone seemed to hold their breath and watch as the blood ran from Jean’s arm into Angel. Her gasps punctuated the abnormal silence of the room as everyone waited.

After a while, the horrible gasping noises started to ease, the rise and fall of Angel’s chest didn’t seem as shallow, and she appeared to be breathing a bit easier. The doctor checked her heartrate and it was slower and stronger as color slowly returned to her lips.

“I think it’s working,” he proclaimed hesitantly to the quiet room.

Hanje immediately jumped into action. “I’ll get Jean some water and some food. He’s going to need to replenish the blood he’s giving.” And she was out the door.

After resting his hand on Jean’s shoulder momentarily in gratitude, Erwin retreated again to the far wall and leaned his head back, closing his eyes in relief. Levi never relinquished his hold on Angel’s hand, but brought it to his lips giving it a soft kiss.

Hours later, Jean was sprawled in his chair sleeping. He was currently disconnected from Angel, giving his body a chance to recover. Angel was still immobile in the bed, but her breathing was closer to normal and there was some slight color to her cheeks. The nurse came in periodically to check for signs of a reaction to the transfusion, but was more hopeful with each passing hour. Erwin had gone back to his quarters to change out of his bloody clothes and deal with the fallout of the latest mission. Hanje was talking to the doctor in the lab, animatedly describing her findings under the microscope and trying to find more subjects to donate drops of blood for further testing. Levi was still sitting in the same chair, still gripping her hand, with his head lying on the bed beside her, asleep.

The moon had already set and dawn was not far away when Levi was jerked out of his exhausted slumber by Angel pulling her hand out of his grasp as she began to thrash on the bed. Afraid that this was a reaction to the transfusion, Levi immediately stood and tried to soothe her only to discover she was burning up with fever, her skin hot and dry to the touch. Infection had set in. The nurse immediately began to bathe her body with cold compresses as Levi struggled to keep her still so she wouldn’t tear her stitches and re-open her wounds. His considerable strength was put to the test as he fought to keep her as immobile as possible without hurting her further.

For the next three days, the fever raged on. Jean continued to give her blood as often as he could until he was looking so pale that Levi finally sent him to his bed to rest. Angel’s condition fluctuated from violent, fevered induced delirium, to bone shaking chills, to deathlike stillness and exhaustion. Levi continued to stay by her side, bathe her fevered body, and try to calm her when she got violent. But he was beginning to worry how much more her body could take. In spite of Levi’s best efforts, the doctor had already had to repair the stitches on her abdomen twice. Erwin and Hanje came in often, usually bringing food for Levi, and trying to convince him to get some rest. He refused to leave and only caught snippets of sleep in his chair beside her bed. No one else was brave enough to enter the small room, afraid of the snappish captain and his vicious temper, but a regular crowd kept time out in the waiting room, hoping for periodic updates as to Angel’s condition.

On the fourth day, Erwin came in at his usual time first thing in the morning before attending his regular duties to find Angel sleeping peacefully and Levi sound asleep in his chair, his usual tidy clothes wrinkled and askew, his face unshaven and haggard. Erwin reached over and carefully laid the back of his hand against Angel’s cheek to find it cool and damp, instead of hot and dry. His forgotten heart thumped painfully against his ribs in elation. The fever had finally broken. With a small smile of thanksgiving, he gently brushed a lock of hair off Angel’s face, allowing himself the luxury of his fingertips lingering for a brief moment against her soft skin, then he straightened and quietly left the room. 

Later that evening, as the orange glow from the brilliantly setting sun seemed to illuminate the room, Levi had just lit the lanterns and was looking through some training reports Eld had brought him when Angel stirred in the bed and squeezed his hand. Immediately the reports slid forgotten to the floor as Levi leaned forward in time to see her eyes open.

“Hey,” he softly said as she tried to focus on his face.

“Levi,” she said groggily, her voice hoarse from lack of use. “What happened?”

“You were badly injured on the last mission. You’re in the infirmary.”

Her brows knit together as she tried unsuccessfully to remember. Finally, she looked back at him. She reached an unsteady hand up to his face to cup his unshaven cheek. “You look terrible, like you need a shower.”

He laid his hand over hers on his rough cheek. “That I do,” he replied, “but I’m waiting until you can join me.” His voice broke at the end, his relief overcoming his senses and threatening to swamp his emotions. He swallowed thickly to dislodge the thick knot in his throat, hoping she didn’t notice.

She smiled distractedly at his comment as she lost the battle to keep her eyes open and drifted back to sleep. Levi closed his eyes as he tilted his head back, inhaling deeply to steady himself. He gave silent thanks to whomever might be listening as the tight fist clenching heart eased for the first time in over a week.

The next time Angel woke, Levi was again sitting beside her bed. However, this time he was clean shaven and in fresh clothes, even though he still looked tired and drawn. “I thought you were going to wait for me,” she said, smiling weakly.

He brought her hand up and rubbed it against his smooth cheek as he smiled one of his rare smiles. “I’ll give you a rain check on that, and hold you to it. The shower situation was becoming rather urgent and couldn’t wait for you to get your lazy ass out of bed.”

Angel smiled to herself, knowing how Levi was about personal hygiene. “I look forward to it.” Angel thought about sitting up but a sharp pain across her stomach stripped the breath from her lungs and she closed her eyes for a moment as a wave of dizziness overcame her. Gods, she felt so weak. Levi quickly maneuvered to prop some pillows behind her. As he leaned over her, she pressed her nose to his throat to inhale the clean scent of his skin, her hand weakly gripping the collar of his shirt to hold him near. Levi cupped her face in his hands and pulled back to gently touch his forehead to hers.

“I thought I’d lost you,” he whispered, and Angel heard his breath hitch as he inhaled sharply. Then he cleared his throat. “Don’t ever fucking do that again or I swear you’ll be on goddamn admin duty for an eternity.”

“Yes, Captain,” Angel agreed meekly. Levi rolled his eyes, knowing her compliance wouldn’t last once she walked out the doors of the infirmary.

After helping her drink some water and eat a little broth, Levi proceeded to fill her in on all that had happened, from the titan knocking her off her horse, to Erwin’s mad dash with her to the infirmary, to Jean giving her a transfusion. He explained what he could about her wounds. He told her how the artery in her arm had been lacerated and had caused so much blood loss. He then talked about the wound low on her abdomen, explaining how, although the wound was deep, she was lucky none of her vital organs had been hit. What he failed to tell her was the fact that she would probably no longer be able to have children.

He recalled the clinical way the doctor told him Angel’s prognosis. The doctor had been explaining her ability to return to active duty to Levi as her captain, even though it had to be clear to everyone in the infirmary, by now, that there was more to their relationship. While the injury would probably affect her child-bearing abilities, the doctor had said, it shouldn’t affect her ability to use her ODM gear, once she was properly healed. Levi had felt an inexplicable burst of rage at the doctor’s callus dismissal of something so monumentally tragic and life altering. He had to actually restrain himself from going for the doctor’s throat. Then he realized that the pragmatic doctor was stating out loud what they all knew in their hearts: how many of them were actually going to live to have families? That was a dream for the Garrison and Military Police, not the Survey Corps. However, he couldn’t help the brief pang of sorrow brought on by the doctor’s admission and he wondered how it would affect Angel. Although they had been together for several years, they had never discussed anything about a future together or children. In the daily struggle for survival and constant quest for knowledge beyond the walls, it seemed irrelevant. Or that’s what he told himself to avoid asking the hard questions that would open a door he was terrified to see beyond. What about Angel? He had no idea how she felt on the subject. But he knew the gaping feelings of loss and sorrow currently burrowing a hole in his chest scared him. For at the root of these emotions was something he thought long dead and immanently more terrifying to him: hope.

“Levi,” Angel said a little loudly, waving her hand to snag his attention, “where did you go? You drifted off for a minute.”

Levi forced his attention away from his emotional cesspool and brought it back to the woman in front of him. Right now, all that mattered was her recovery. He’d deal with the rest of it later.

“Sorry,” he apologized, giving himself a mental shake, “I’m probably a little tired.” Gods, he was such a fucking coward.

At that, her eyes softened. “Why don’t you go get some decent sleep in a real bed? I’m fine.” She stroked her free hand over their entwined fingers, marveling at the elegance of his lethal hands.

Levi was about to protest when a deep voice from the doorway spoke up. “Excellent idea. I’ll sit with her for a while,” Erwin strode into the room, carrying some books under his arm.

“Erwin!” she exclaimed as her face lit up, holding her free hand out for him to take. Which he did, placing a gallant kiss on her knuckles before carefully sitting on the edge of her bed.

“It’s wonderful to see you looking better, Angel. You had us all quite worried.” His deep voice was husky with unspoken emotion. 

“I’m feeling much better. And I believe I owe you a debt of gratitude. Levi told me how you saved my life.”

The tall blonde brushed aside her thanks, looking a bit embarrassed. “Anyone would have done the same under the circumstances,” he said rather gruffly.

At that, Angel took the large hand that she had been holding and clutched it to her heart. “But it was you,” she said seriously. Levi almost rolled his eyes as he watched the normally confident and self-possessed Commander grow uncomfortable under the earnestness of her gaze as she held his hand against her breast. How someone as intuitive and intelligent as Angel could be so clueless as to Erwin’s feelings baffled the hell out of him.

He took pity on Erwin and stood up to draw Angel’s attention away from the larger man. “I’ve got some work to do while Erwin keeps you company.”

He still held onto Angel’s other hand and he brought it to his lips. But instead of kissing the back of her fingers as Erwin had done, Levi turned her hand over and opened her palm to place a kiss in the center. Locking his gaze with hers, he saw her eyes widen as he ran his tongue along the seam of her palm. Just to remind her where he stood among the many men in her life. She smiled at him as he turned and walked out the door, knowing full well what he was up to.

At Erwin’s uncomfortable cough, she turned to him and brightly said, “Those books wouldn’t be for me, would they?”


End file.
